Allright, since some people don't want to use the forum, and because it's killing me NOT to talk about this I'm going to post the more interesting ones here.

It's frustrating. You have Chris acting like a slut, then getting mad when the Dude calls her a tease. EXCUSE ME, but call it like it is!!! She is acting like a tease/slut, showing her goods,flirting, and throwing herself at him every chance she gets. He can do better then a loose Lucy like her. Yes I can see she has more behind her character, however either she needs to address her issues and be a better person by adopting a few morals and values or quit playing mind games with him. He doesn't deserve it.

Yes, she does need to address her issues. And I'm not saying anything more then that.

The appeal of this strip is the heart. Don't care for the "Steve Dallas" wannabe. I agree the slut joke is tastless and the mcribbed is predictible. You have shown you are much more capable than this.

Yep, I am far more capable then just dick and fart jokes....but you're going to have to trust my writing skills. There's a reason and a purpose we're SEEING these reactions.

When I think about how I personally tend to define Art in my life it has always been this:

Created material that provokes an emotional resonance within the observer.

And man, do I seem to have created an emotional resonance with those people who are observing these characters.

I have gotten more hate mail, more jabs, and more bloody noses for taking the course of action that I've taken in this strip in the past few weeks.

And all I can say is...BRING IT ON!

I'm NOT going to say anything more then that. Because quite honestly I'll be showing my hand.

But as I've said before, this series is about GROWTH in characters...

...ALL the characters.

SOME will be able to grow, some wont. Some will change considerably, and some will be left to grow old alone and die.

It's a lot like life if you think about it. Oh sure, there are those few lives that are truely spectacular, absolutly breathtaking. Where you die in bed surrounded by loved ones after living a good life, and you can look yourself in the mirror the final day and say "I did it, I did good."

But the bulk of them...the bulk of them end tragically, cut too short, or ending in madness.

And the question is...just who in this strip is going to be able to look themselves in the mirror at the end, and say "I did good?"

hey, I like the way Chris is progressing! She's a maturing slut... It takes time ... and the strip is nice...

People that don't like the humor part of your strip can all eat it! Anyone who doesn't understand what the purpose of a comic strip is are the type of people that shave their cats to make their gerkins with!

I can't help but snicker when someone can't believe it when an author says he doesn't have control of a character. These are the same people who blame the author for "killing" a well liked character.

I have to disagree with your friends definition of art. The emotional response isn't required, otherwise Abstract Expressionism is pretty much ruled out as valid art. I can't remember or imagine reacting emotionally to a Pollock or a Rothko painting--intellectually, perhaps, but not emotionally. My definition, in short: Art is isolation. I would elaborate, but it's way too late and I have to get up for work tomorrow.

I had more comments and questions, but I think I'm just going to wait for more of the story.

I will stand up for anybody expressing their opinion in the forums when you do it with respect. When somebody posts "dude is a pussy. are you sure he isn't gay?" I don't take that as constructive. It's childish. If you are going to make such statements then have the courage to post in the forums. If the post was "I don't like your strip or the direction it's going" that's fine. But to throw insults benefits no one.

Look, I'm thick skinned enough to have someone walk up to me and say "Jason, the Dude's acting like a complete and total pussy, what's wrong with him, is he gay."

Because quite honestly, I can look them in the eye and say "Uh...he is acting like a pussy right now. And NO he's NOT gay...ya frigging homophobe."

Only in a much kinder and gentler manner.

Insults DO benifit me. They let me know that I AM writing characters that people can look at and go "WOW."

Art is that which creates an emotional response.

In many ways I'm just...amazed...that my characters resonate so deeply with people. I've had more then one person come up to me and say "Wow, I hope Chris gets it together, because I did the EXACT SAME THING and completly blew it."

I've had people e-mail me and say "MAN, what is the Dude THINKING! Cant he see that he's going about this all wrong?"

And I just go..."yeah, he is going about it all wrong. I wonder what his problem is."

And underneath all of that, I just think to myself "I've suceeded in creating characters that are so deep, that they seem like living, breathing people."

And that makes me feel good. Because you DON'T hear people saying that about Garfield. Or even Opus. Or Gabe and Tycho.

But they're saying that about a puny little strip with a readership of under 500 people.

It's telling me I'm doing one hell of a job writing characters that make you feel an emotional response with. And quite honestly, that gives me an IMMENSE amount of pride, and an IMMENSE amount of terror.

Because I know where this story is going. And I fear that I'm going to piss a lot of people off when I get to the conclusion.

Perhaps they didn't post in the forum so they wouldn't get roasted for their questions and opinions. Much like you just did. The few times I have posted MY opinion it has been torn apart and I felt my character assaulted for even thinking my own thoughts other then those who had a different opinion. Thus I no longer care to post in the forum and hesitate to post here. We all would be far better served to respect all opinions and posts, respond with maturity, and leave the teeth in our mouth rather then in another person's arse.

Look, I don't think I've seen ANYONE have their bum handed to them on this forum yet. I know that there are SOME here who are rather vocal. But then again, I'm a bit of a negotiator. I know my opinions, and I'm not afraid to coerce someone into seeing them.

Because I know I'm always right. Never DOUBT the Bastard.

I HAVE defended some of my characters actions. Namely, Chris, because right now I'm very afraid that I'm giving people the WRONG idea of her, and I don't want that to be the case.

Chris is NOT a slut...because I know Chris all too well. And Chris makes her mistakes, and she lives with them...

But I have an AWEFUL lot of hope for her. Weither or not she lives up to it...I guess that's for her to show me. She does have this habit of being a stubborn little bitch mid-stream. I think I have her pinned down and she winds up doing something that just makes me scratch my head and go..."OK Chris, if that's what you REALLY want."

But I trust her...I trust her to do the right thing, and I trust her as a character to not fuck up this story too much.

Funny, but Chris was NEVER ment to be this deep. She really wasn't. She was ment to be a throw away gag, more or less.

december sixth is the feast of St. Nicholas. in sweden, norway, finland and the like, children put shoes outside their bedroom doors hoping the original St. Nick will come by and fill them with candy. interesting that this strip ends *THAT* day.

Well...

I didn't even think of THAT.

December 7th is Pearl Harbor. Which means if I piss off my readership, it's perfectly fine to commit seppuku.

If I may intercede here, I applaud you for having the courage to write a character who is honorable without being a ridiculous tight-ass. Hero never turned Chris down (in my opinion) because her didn't want her, or because he was a pussy, or any of those dopeythings guys say to each other over beer when someone has bypassed the biological imperative to "get some". He alwasy turned her down because the situation was always wrong.

Chris always threw herself at him out of desperation, or anger, or gratitude. Always as some way to get an emotional itch scratched and prove to herself that the only thing she had of value was her body and her willingness to use it. Hero didn't want her that way, if he has her at all, it'll be the whole package. Not just her naughty bits, the whole package, not a giving, a sharing. Not an end, a beginning. How it comes out next Tuesday depends on Chris and whether she has the strength to overcome her neuroses enough to see what she really needs.

Just my opinion of course, but I applaud you, still. It's hard to create characters who make honorable choices without turning them into boy scouts.

EDIT: Some folks say love's a winner's game
But they're not fooling me.
I know it isn't true.

See, I look at it like this...and I speak from experiance, because I AM the Dude (and uncle Jay, and Mozillas, and Bill...not so much Mongo...but the other three are all aspects of my personality.)

The dude is SCARED.

And it's not that he doesn't know HOW to handle Chris. He understands her a lot better then she realizes...hell, a lot better then I'm certain HE realizes. Its that she's doing something very dumb right now, and at the same time, it's VERY smart for both of them. And both SHE and HE know it...

but she's not facing it. She's being angry and stubborn..and most of all...she's scared too. Because she KNOWS she has a lot to lose here.

But can you TRUELY love someone if you aren't willing to lose your heart in the process. If you guard it, you'll never really be able to give it up.

Quite honestly, the tempest WAS suppost to end differently. Chris was going to wind up showing him that she WAS changing. That she really understood what he was going through, and that she was...

Well, that she wanted better.

It was MENT to end differently, and as I was writing it, when Chris did her thing...I had two possible outcomes.

One would have moved what I wanted in the strip WAY to fast...and I didn't want that because I have something VERY special planned...provided I can move to it without these two ruining it.

The other was what we got now. Which is me trying to really move these characters to where they both need to be.

Man, now I understand why God just get's pissed off by free will.

I mean, I'm sure we all have this absolutly SPECTACUALR story ahead of us...but when we fuck up, and we aren't willing to just drop our pride and say "Goddamn it, I'm an idiot. Sorry about that."

Well, we just keep running from what could be someting very good to us.

And a part is concerning me. Because in all honesty...Chris is doing something that I didn't intend to really happen. And it worries me because I think, as odd as this sounds, I think she doesn't want to see what I have planned come to frutition.

She's already changed her role quite a bit, and it pisses me off...

She's already begun to change the Dude, and it worries me.

But I guess, as a writer, I need to deal with it, and come to a solution. Chris forced me to work out the current issue in this series in a way I wasn't intending. It's been a HUGE work around with her.

And I just care for this character too much to try and make her fit what I want her to do.

So, I'm letting her do what she needs to do, and I'm going to try and do what I need to do to get her to where the story needs to be.

So like, does the dude have eyes behind the shades or are they his eyes like that other dude on Star Trek who wore a banana comb to see? I mean that would be freaky them gettin down to business and him wearing shades and all.